| TAKING A GOOD LOOK AT SOME ALASKAN GLACIERS (and one other) Gibbworld Home Page Global Warming Page Antarctica My Parents' Slides |
| These are some pictures that I took of several glaciers during a trip to Alaska during June of 2007. All except one of the glaciers, St. Mary's, which is in Colorado, so it would have been a little hard to see it from Alaska. |
| By the way, I am not trying to sell anything. So if you have some use for any of these pictures, feel free to take and use them. HERE ARE THE SPECIAL FEATURES AND EXTRAS (CLICK ON THE PICTURES FOR LARGER VERSIONS): |
KAHILTNA GLACIER
This glacier is near Mt. McKinley (Denali), and I saw
it from a small plane out of Talkeetna, AK. Those
people at the Talkeetna Air Taxi (and, I am sure,
the other flying services in the area) can really fly
through those mountains. Click for pictures and more
information...
This glacier is near Mt. McKinley (Denali), and I saw
it from a small plane out of Talkeetna, AK. Those
people at the Talkeetna Air Taxi (and, I am sure,
the other flying services in the area) can really fly
through those mountains. Click for pictures and more
information...
EXIT GLACIER
If you would like to find the nice, friendly glacier
next door with no need of a boat or plane, try Exit
Glacier. It is right next door to the town of Seward
Alaska with an actual road leading to it. Well, OK,
you are going to need a boat or plane to get to
Seward in the first place (or take a VERY long
drive). But when you get there, just hop on over
next door to the glacier. Click here for pictures and
more information...
If you would like to find the nice, friendly glacier
next door with no need of a boat or plane, try Exit
Glacier. It is right next door to the town of Seward
Alaska with an actual road leading to it. Well, OK,
you are going to need a boat or plane to get to
Seward in the first place (or take a VERY long
drive). But when you get there, just hop on over
next door to the glacier. Click here for pictures and
more information...
HUBBARD GLACIER
Here is a glacier that caused two of the largest
floods in the last 10,000 years. In each case dam
broke releasing a lake that was 80 feet tall the
first time and about 60 feet tall the second time.
But nobody was in the way. This is all related to
the fact that this glacier is advancing while most
glaciers are retreating. But there are reasons for
this. Click here for pictures and more information...
Here is a glacier that caused two of the largest
floods in the last 10,000 years. In each case dam
broke releasing a lake that was 80 feet tall the
first time and about 60 feet tall the second time.
But nobody was in the way. This is all related to
the fact that this glacier is advancing while most
glaciers are retreating. But there are reasons for
this. Click here for pictures and more information...
MARGERIE GLACIER
What a show this one put on for me and all of the
other eager tourists on the MS Statendam. Often
the ice in a glacier ends its ride by "calving" --
breaking off and falling. You never know when you
are going to see this, but Margerie put on a heck of
a show while we were there. Click here for pictures
and more information...
What a show this one put on for me and all of the
other eager tourists on the MS Statendam. Often
the ice in a glacier ends its ride by "calving" --
breaking off and falling. You never know when you
are going to see this, but Margerie put on a heck of
a show while we were there. Click here for pictures
and more information...
MEADE GLACIER
Well, I just went nuts at this glacier. I got into a
helicopter, flew to the glacier and landed. Oh,
OK, I didn't fly it. An experienced pilot did that.
But in the 40 or so minutes I had on the glacier, I
learned a lot. Click here for pictures and more
information...
Well, I just went nuts at this glacier. I got into a
helicopter, flew to the glacier and landed. Oh,
OK, I didn't fly it. An experienced pilot did that.
But in the 40 or so minutes I had on the glacier, I
learned a lot. Click here for pictures and more
information...
MENDENHALL GLACIER
Here is another one that you can reach by car or
bus because there is an actual road that runs out
there. Out there from Juneau, Alaska, that is, a
town that you need to reach by plane or ship.
There are many indications that this glacier has
been retreating. Click for pictures and more
information...
Here is another one that you can reach by car or
bus because there is an actual road that runs out
there. Out there from Juneau, Alaska, that is, a
town that you need to reach by plane or ship.
There are many indications that this glacier has
been retreating. Click for pictures and more
information...
NORTHWESTERN GLACIER
This one one of the "tidewater" glaciers -- they
end in places that have tides. This is the kind
that can calve, that is lose mass by having big
pieces fall off into the water. It is very
spectacular and makes a roar something like
thunder. Although this did not put on the same
show that Margerie did for me, I got to see one
big ice avalanche anyway. Click here for pictures
and more information...
This one one of the "tidewater" glaciers -- they
end in places that have tides. This is the kind
that can calve, that is lose mass by having big
pieces fall off into the water. It is very
spectacular and makes a roar something like
thunder. Although this did not put on the same
show that Margerie did for me, I got to see one
big ice avalanche anyway. Click here for pictures
and more information...
ST. MARY'S GLACIER (COLORADO)
Here is my only personal set of "before and after"
pictures showing the shrinking of a glacier over
time. It was a little hard to take such a set of
pictures on one trip to Alaska. I didn't set out to
do that at St. Mary's either, and the second
picture is not exactly from the same spot as the
first. It takes a heckofa hike (for me at least --
not for some of these Colorado types in disgustingly
good condition) to get there, so I didn't know I was
going there on that second trip. That is my excuse
for not bringing the earlier picture with me to get
the position right. Anyway, click for pictures and
more information...
Here is my only personal set of "before and after"
pictures showing the shrinking of a glacier over
time. It was a little hard to take such a set of
pictures on one trip to Alaska. I didn't set out to
do that at St. Mary's either, and the second
picture is not exactly from the same spot as the
first. It takes a heckofa hike (for me at least --
not for some of these Colorado types in disgustingly
good condition) to get there, so I didn't know I was
going there on that second trip. That is my excuse
for not bringing the earlier picture with me to get
the position right. Anyway, click for pictures and
more information...
SOME LINKS TO OTHER GLACIER
INFORMATION, OTHER BEFORE AND
AFTER GLACIER PICTURES, AND MORE
Links to many glacier sites
Alaska -- Glacier Bay
Alaska -- Other Glaciers
Glacier Discussion at PBS, Journey to Planet Earth
Glaciers Rephotographed by the US Geological Survey
Online Glacier Photograph Database
Switzerland
Three Benchmark Glaciers
World View of Global Warming
Changes in Glaciers in the Denali area including Kahiltna
INFORMATION, OTHER BEFORE AND
AFTER GLACIER PICTURES, AND MORE
Links to many glacier sites
Alaska -- Glacier Bay
Alaska -- Other Glaciers
Glacier Discussion at PBS, Journey to Planet Earth
Glaciers Rephotographed by the US Geological Survey
Online Glacier Photograph Database
Switzerland
Three Benchmark Glaciers
World View of Global Warming
Changes in Glaciers in the Denali area including Kahiltna
COLLEGE FJORD
Here is a place in Alaska, just off of Prince
William Sound, with many glaciers. It is called
College Fjord, so named by an expedition organized
by one E. H. Harriman in 1899. Harriman also
named the glaciers there mainly after famous
Eastern United States Colleges. Now most of them
are in retreat, with at least one prominent
exception. College Fjord is a popular destination
for Cruise ships including the one I rode up to
Alaska on (the Holland America Line's Statendam).
By the way, a fjord (also spelled "fiord") is an
inlet from the sea among mountains where it can be
ringed by cliffs. Although the dictionary is satisfied
with that, technically a fjord is also something
carved by a glacier. Click here for pictures and
more information...
Here is a place in Alaska, just off of Prince
William Sound, with many glaciers. It is called
College Fjord, so named by an expedition organized
by one E. H. Harriman in 1899. Harriman also
named the glaciers there mainly after famous
Eastern United States Colleges. Now most of them
are in retreat, with at least one prominent
exception. College Fjord is a popular destination
for Cruise ships including the one I rode up to
Alaska on (the Holland America Line's Statendam).
By the way, a fjord (also spelled "fiord") is an
inlet from the sea among mountains where it can be
ringed by cliffs. Although the dictionary is satisfied
with that, technically a fjord is also something
carved by a glacier. Click here for pictures and
more information...
| IN THE KAHILTNA GLACIER PAGE, THERE ARE PICTURES FROM THE AIR, BUT I DIDN'T SHOW THE LANDING. HERE IS KAHILTNA FROM OUR PLANE. |
| AS WE FLEW OVER THE LANDING AREA, WE SAW A PLANE ALREADY LANDED AND LITTLE, TINY PEOPLE AROUND IT. SOMEONE SEEMS TO HAVE WANDERED AWAY, WHICH THEY TOLD US NOT TO DO. |
| WE LANDED ON A SNOWY AREA TO THE SIDE OF KAHILTNA GLACIER, FLOWN THERE BY THE TALKEETNA AIR TAXI PEOPLE. |
| SEE THE PLANE WAY OUT THERE TAKING OFF? THE SKI PLANES HAD TO ACCELERATE DOWN THAT SLOPE AND TAKE OFF BEFORE THE EDGE. |
| THIS IS A DIFFERENT PLANE TRIP. IT IS A SEA PLANE OUT OF JUNEAU EXPLORING SOME OF THE GLACIERS IN THE NEXT FJORD TO THE WEST . |
| ONE OF THOSE IS TAKU GLACIER, AND HERE WE ARE FLYING OVER IT, |
| ANOTHER IS WEST TWIN GLACIER, AND HERE IT COMES TUMBLING DOWN FROM THE HEIGHTS OF THE JUNEAU ICE FIELD. |
| YOU HAVE HEARD OF A WATERFALL? WELL, HERE IS AN ICEFALL. SAME KIND OF THING, BUT THIS IS ICE TUMBLING OVER A STEEP SPOT IN THE MOUNTAIN. AT A GLACIAL PACE, OF COURSE. THIS IS PART OF WEST TWIN GLACIER. |
| IF YOU GO OUT WALKING ON A GLACIER, YOU STAND A FAIR CHANCE OF FALLING INTO A CREVASSE, ONE OF THOSE CRACKS DOWN THERE ON WEST TWIN GLACIER. THAT IS WAY DOWN THERE, SO THEY ARE ACTUALLY BIG. AND OFTEN COVERED WITH A LITTLE SNOW THAT YOU COULD FALL THROUGH. THAT IS WHY THEY TOLD US NOT TO WANDER AWAY ON THAT PLANE TRIP UP AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE. |